German football 2020/21

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Lucien just can't win with you people. If he rests Haaland then you lot would be complaining that he didn't start your goal-machine against a very defensive Köln side who at no point wanted to control the match & were obviously just going to sit deep without the threat of Haaland.

I'm not suggesting rest him often, but you have Moukoko. The kid was brilliant today. Probably Dortmund's best player, and did it off the bench, which says a lot about the team performance. If you have a weapon like Moukoko, use him once in a while to give Haaland a rest.

And if the idea is that Moukoko isn't ready to start, whose fault is that? The past two games Dortmund had won early in the second half. If he had given Moukoko about 50-60 total minutes, you feel a lot more comfortable starting him than if he has played like five minutes.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

They have a deeper team than they've ever had. It's a lot deeper than even when Tuchel was manager. Passlack is the only one of those players who isn't in our top 10 most used players this season. The problem isn't that he rotated players; it's that he used the same players, and moved Can forward to a role where his bad passing is more of an issue, especially against a very defensive opponent where creativity is demanded. They actually have good and creative backups in these roles, but Favre didn't choose them today. Dahoud was rested. Morey can barely sniff the field no matter how much and how badly Meunier plays.

The only thing I'll defend is that I don't know what the other option is. I agree that Passlack isn't Dortmund quality. He can't complete a 10 yard pass with consistency, but Guerreiro is injured. What else are you going to do? One of the many bad alternatives, Schmelzer, is injured. You could use Schulz, but is he really any better than Passlack? I think right-footed Passlack is better.

You could have tried a back 3 where Hazard plays LWB, or you could use Morey at LB, but I'm also not sure Morey has ever played LB. Guerreiro, who I have criticized a lot, has been brilliant this season. We lose a lot when he's injured. The drop off from our starter to next best option at that position is the biggest drop off in the squad, in my opinion.

Schulz was supposed to solve this problem of another option at that position, but this is among Zorc's worst ever transfers. Schulz was a complete Nagelsmann product. Next season an alternative at that position has to be figured out. We can't go into next season without another natural option there. And I completely agree about Morey vs. Meunier, but I mention it all the time and don't need to belabor the point further.

 

[Bon Esprit]

Tasmania Schalke are so bad, even I can't make jokes on them anymore. It is so sad.

 

[Bon Esprit]

Max Kruse, Fußballgott!

Kruse is one of the very last real football punks. I love this dude.
Max Kruse - Wikipedia

Leaves 75.000 Euros on the backseat of a taxi. Priceless.

 

[Bure80]

You had Sancho/Reus/Brandt/Haaland starting and you didn't have the creativity or skill to break down a bottom feeder like Cologne? Doubtful.

On paper yes. Dortmund lacks quality on the wing in general (fullbacks and wingers). With Sancho and Hazard there are just 2 real wingers in the squad. All others are better in central midfield. Brandt for example is a good player, as winger he looses much of his strength.

 

[Lambo]

Typical Bayerkusen! When it counts, they fail.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Tasmania Schalke are so bad, even I can't make jokes on them anymore. It is so sad.

I think it’s only going to get worse. I think Tasmania’s record could be broken. Going into the season their squad was bad, but it was not close to the worst in the league. Teams like Mainz, Koln, Augsburg, Bielefeld had worse players. Schalke still had some valuable players obtained a few years ago when they still were a contender to ply in Europe, but now they are releasing and selling players. Their solution is to promote kids from their youth teams that aren’t yet ready for the Bundesliga. They might be better off starting a rebuild that they can continue next season in 2. Bundesliga. I think by the last few match days they will already be relegated.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Typical Bayerkusen! When it counts, they fail.

Neverkusen. It’s a shame because I think they have the potential to be the clear fourth best team in the Bundesliga, but you look at the difference between Gladbach and Leverkusen season after season, and Gladbach does a lot more with less. Bosz plays exciting football, but is he a good manager?

 

[cgf]

Kruse is one of the very last real football punks. I love this dude.
Max Kruse - Wikipedia

Leaves 75.000 Euros on the backseat of a taxi. Priceless.

The man was simply too cool for the NT

 

[Bon Esprit]

I think it’s only going to get worse. I think Tasmania’s record could be broken. Going into the season their squad was bad, but it was not close to the worst in the league. Teams like Mainz, Koln, Augsburg, Bielefeld had worse players. Schalke still had some valuable players obtained a few years ago when they still were a contender to ply in Europe, but now they are releasing and selling players. Their solution is to promote kids from their youth teams that aren’t yet ready for the Bundesliga. They might be better off starting a rebuild that they can continue next season in 2. Bundesliga. I think by the last few match days they will already be relegated.

2. Liga worked fine for HSV, Lautern or 1960.
Seriously, if you don't get promoted immediatley, it's going to become very expensive.

 

[Power Man]

Oh boy, S04 and Freund getting blasted on social media

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

2. Liga worked fine for HSV, Lautern or 1960.
Seriously, if you don't get promoted immediatley, it's going to become very expensive.

It wouldn't be the first time for Schalke to be in the 2.Liga. Most recently in the late 80s it took them 3 years to get back. Schalke is one of those clubs whose actual achievements are vastly overrated on account of the size of their fan base.

 

[Albatros]

At least they have won a handful of major trophies in the Bundesliga era, already that sets them apart from the ones like Hertha that have won nothing yet still pretend some semblance of greatness.

 

[Bon Esprit]

Oh boy, S04 and Freund getting blasted on social media

I watched the show on sunday. I couldn't see racism in Freund's statements. it was more about mentality. Freund knows Bentaleb in person.
Here's the link
Rassismus-Eklat im "Doppelpass" - Schalke reagiert

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

At least they have won a handful of major trophies in the Bundesliga era, already that sets them apart from the ones like Hertha that have won nothing yet still pretend some semblance of greatness.

Hertha can't really be compared with Schalke in terms of status as a club. Hertha has delusions of grandeur but pretty much everyone knows those are delusions and hence they're more the object of public mockery than anything else. Schalke are pretty indisputably the number 3 in Germany as far as popularity and public presence is concerned and for a number 3 club their success has been pretty limited.

 

[Power Man]

I watched the show on sunday. I couldn't see racism in Freund's statements. it was more about mentality. Freund knows Bentaleb in person.
Here's the link
Rassismus-Eklat im "Doppelpass" - Schalke reagiert

yeah 'm not criticizing Freund tbh, maybe his wording coud have been better

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Freund expressed himself in a 'naive' manner one might say. You could tell Helmer - who is a touch more polished - was sensing that he was about to say something not necessarily good to say in the age of social media outrage.

 

[Deficient Mode]

I guess I'm missing something here. That's a pretty explicitly racist argument. African players are inherently more undisciplined or lack character, or can't sacrifice themselves for the club??? And you explicitly mention that it's because of their origin or roots; you don't just happen to single out two African players for criticism? Schalke was rife with drama and dysfunction before either of those two got there. It's nearly as stupid and offensive to imply players from poor backgrounds regardless of ethnicity have greater character problems than players from wealthier countries, too.

 

[Power Man]

That's my problem with hi comments, S04 has been dyfunctional for a while, everybody is responsible for the mess (ok maybe not everybody but you get the idea)

 

[Evilo]

Bentaleb isn't even african. He's french.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

It wasn't about being African. He mentioned his French-Algerian background specifically saying there's a level of aggression and lack of discipline that comes when the player doesn't get what he wants and that as a club you should know that before buying the player.

He then further elaborated saying that at Schalke they want (and need in the current situation) primarily down to earth, hard workers who identify with the club. In principle he said that they built the squad wrongly by getting talented guys who however would not be the types to buckle down and give their nuts to help the club out of trouble.

If you want to call it racist to say that French-Algerian players are more likely to be divas than others..sure..it could be seen that way. It could also be seen as an honest observation based on 30 years in the football business. I don't see how Freund would have a reason to randomly have a specific problem with players of a French-Algerian background.

 

[Albatros]

There was more generalization there than just poorly chosen words, on the other hand it came across as more ignorant than malicious so I hope he at least learned something.

 

[Evilo]

"It could be seen that way"?
Like really? Atal? Bensebaini? Mahrez? Mandi? Divas?

"Honest opinion"?

I think a real honest opinion here would be that a good old white tall, blond hair blue eyes guy would be a much better character.
We've been down that road before.

 

[Bon Esprit]

Bentaleb isn't even african. He's french.

French-Algerian, born in Lille, playimg for Algeria.

Freund's mistake was to mention his background. He should have said; I know the player from his time at Tottenham and everybody should know that he is not an easy charakter. He was suspended 5 times already.

Freund isn't the brightest candle on the cake, but I doubt his remarks were meant racist.

 

[Bon Esprit]

"It could be seen that way"?
Like really? Atal? Bensebaini? Mahrez? Mandi? Divas?

"Honest opinion"?

I think a real honest opinion here would be that a good old white tall, blond hair blue eyes guy would be a much better character.
We've been down that road before.

Yeah right, easy-going blonde guys like Mario Basler and Stefan Effenberg.
Freund was awkward, thats it.